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Raffaello "Open the Summer" (2013) (Germany)

Summer gets a sweet start in a new commercial from Raffaello, made by global confectionary producer Ferrero, and directed by Los Pérez (Tania Verduzco and Adrian Pérez). “Open the Summer” was conceived by ad agency M&C Saatchi/Berlin and produced through Erste Liebe, a Hamburg-based production company representing the directing duo for the German market. Los Pérez is represented by The Cortez Brothers (http://www.cortezbrothers.com) for the US General market.

Set to The Jamies’ “Summertime,” the playful spot features a number of objects opening in choreographed rhythm to the track. Women open shutter windows in unison as white sunshades open and spin on the white-sand beach. A montage of “Open” signs takes center stage; a white fan unfurling segues into a book opening, and a gust of wind steals away a woman’s beach hat. Her eyes widen in excitement as the spot concludes with a Raffaello box opening.

For Los Pérez, the goal was to shoot enough material and objects with the same shape, form and position so they could play with the montage. The minimalist backgrounds with simple lines and textures better highlighted the main objects and situations, which aptly explain the “Open The Summer” sensation.

“ Bjoern Bremer and his team had specific objects they wanted to use, such as the shutter windows, the sunshades and the fountain with the water streams, but they were really open to our ideas,” explains Tania Verduzco of Los Pérez. “We imagined this Raffaello film as a powerful choreography with strong images telling us what summer is all about. So it was important to shoot plenty of ideas and vignettes to allow us to play during the editing with the rhythm and music.”

“In addition to capturing objects and things opening or blossoming, we shot close-ups and details, as well as wider shots where we could see the sky, the beach and backgrounds with a modern and summery look,” adds Adrian Pérez of Los Pérez.

Though airing in Germany, the spot was shot in Miami because of the Caribbean Sea color. Shooting in Miami proved to be difficult due to the changing weather conditions, which meant trying to find the best locations to catch the best light for each situation. Since only one shutter window and sunshade were shot on location, many elements were added and duplicated in postproduction.

“Framing had a very graphical and careful composition to emphasize the actions,” says Verduzco. “We later cloned all of the women opening the shutters to create the final composite of the building. Similarly, for the sunshade, we were able to move it into different positions to create a wider shot of the beach with the multiple sunshades opening in a choreographic way.”

“This was a very interesting experience for us,” concludes Pérez. “Both the agency and client were very open to our suggestions.”